Andy's Shorts to GA Prompts - 5. Prompt #85

Ludwig passed away last week. We had the reading of the will and I was left his shop “Everything Old”. Ludwig had always planned to leave it to his son, but his son refused to enter the family business for “personal beliefs”. Ludwig took me under his wing, and has shown me many secrets over the past hundred and fifty years.

How can we live that long you ask? One of our ancestors mated with a demon of their own volition. We got a few good things out of the deal such as a long life with perfect health – after all Ludwig was nearly nine hundred years old when he died. The really bad thing to come from this deal is “Everything Old”.

The shop sells anything and everything you could want or imagine; and if we don’t have it in stock we can easily get it. We can get anything historical; why just yesterday we sold someone an original “previously undiscovered” copy of the Malleus Maleficarum. We cross time as easily as you cross the street.

The items we have on display are incredible. We have original US flags (all carbon-dated with certificates of authenticity); we have cannons, muskets, crossbows and the such (again all authenticated); we have items of clothing from throughout history owned by anyone who was anyone.

People who buy from us are happy with their purchases. They get a thing they can brag about, they can show their friends and neighbours and say, “I’m better than you”. You humans and your things. For as long as there has been this desire to accumulate stuff, we have existed. For as long as you humans have had this desire to be better than your neighbours, we have existed. The demon we are descended from is known to us as Saligia; she is the source of what you humans call the Seven Deadly Sins.

What people don’t know is that what they buy from us, they never truly own. Upon their death, the object returns to our shop for us to sell again, and all memory of the object is wiped from the living.

However, we exist to do more than help your capitalist economy thrive. We also exist to help the economy of the greatest demon of all thrive. You call him Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Iblis, Shaitan and Sokar among others. Anyone who buys from us is damning their soul to Hell for all eternity, and not even by the grace of all the angels in Heaven will you be spared. Ah, a new customer.

“Greetings, friend.”

“Hi there. Where’s Mr Kaladine?”

“He passed away last week. My name is Maxie. How can I help you?”

“I’m sorry to hear about Mr Kaladine. He was a nice old man. But he kept trying to sell me stuff, even though I told him I never had any money. I don’t think he realised how little pocket money a ten year old gets.”

“I thank you for your condolences. I promise you I’ll only ask this the once. If you could have your own piece of history, no matter how small, and that you perhaps could afford, what would it be?”

“Since I only get five bucks a week, it’d have to be something very small.” Mike Richardson thought for a few minutes longer and said, “I’ve got it. If I could have anything, it would be a genuine Egyptian shabti.”

“Well as it happens, my young friend, I have an Egyptian shabti in the storeroom. Give me a few minutes and I’ll get it. I happen to know it only costs $3.50 as it is a small shabti.”

I returned after a few minutes and showed it to Mike. “It’s lovely,” Mike said; his eyes telling me far more than his words. “I’ll take it.”

Mike left the store with his small shabti, and a truly evil sneer crossed my lips and I whispered, “One more, my master.”

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